"We have admitted certain defects; we have ascertained in a rough way what the trouble is; we have put our finger on the weak items in our personal inventory."
One of the greatest gifts of recovery is finally hearing something we probably needed to hear our whole lives: we're not perfect, we're never going to be perfect, and that's not the goal. We're human. We have defects. We miss the mark. If we somehow got everything right all the time, it would probably be a little strange.
Recovery isn't asking us to become flawless. It's asking us to become honest. To recognize our biggest defects, ask for help, and try to do a little better today than we did yesterday. That's progress. And for alcoholics, progress is enough to stay sober.
As we keep doing that, something begins to change. We're connected. We find a little more serenity, a little more acceptance of ourselves and the people around us, and before long we discover that life is becoming worth living. Not because we became perfect, but because we finally stopped expecting ourselves to be.
If perfection isn't the goal, what does progress look like for you today?
